Tag: hotel

Mexico City 3 day Trip with Points

We visited Mexico City for a quick 3 day trip to catch the Monarch Butterfly migration.

Parking at the Airport: We used cheapairportparking.com to book 4 days of parking at VPNE parking near LAX. It includes a shuttle and was only $27 for 4 days. A trick is to buy a cheap refundable parking reservation. When you cancel it they will offer you additional credit if you refund as an account credit versus to your credit card. Afterwards, you can use the credit for your booking. Make sure to add a coupon code for additional savings.

Flight to Mexico City: We only had 3 days in Mexico City so we wanted to catch the midnight flight out of LAX so we can arrive in the morning. The price of the flight was only listed as $88 but we added the carry-on package. They also charge a significant tax for non-residents of Mexico, bringing the total to almost double the listed price. Despite booking two people on the same PNR, they did not seat us together so we also paid extra for a seat assignment.

Hotel in Mexico City: Although the Andaz Mexico City was an option was 42k points, we opted for a cheaper option on Expedia. It was only $184 after a personal Capital One Shopping offer of 16% back. The Apartamento Suites Londres 212 was basically an AirBnB studio that was very centrally located. Two of our tours started within a 7 minute walk of the hotel. The lobby was staffed 24 hours but they only spoke Spanish and they had no AC in the room. At the end, we were happy with the choice because of the convenient location. We arrived at the hotel at 6AM the first day and just left our luggage with the staff at the lobby and proceeded to breakfast, followed by the first tour.

GetYourGuide Frida Kahlo Tour + Xochimilco + Coyoacan Tour: The tour was originally priced at $162 for two people but we had 40.5% cashback from the Capital One Shopping Portal. We gathered at the meeting spot and took our tour buses between locations. Fortunately, we were able to sleep on the bus between locations since we arrived that morning from LAX. This was a full day tour and lasted until around 7PM.

GetYourGuide Teotihuacan Balloon Tour: The tour was originally priced at $336 for two people but we again used the cashback from the portal. We were picked up at the hotel and drove about an hour to the meeting area. There were hundreds of balloons that go up each morning and we were in a basket with 8 total people. We flew for roughly an hour and a half and got really close to the pyramids. Definitely a great experience and worth the price. Afterwards, we had breakfast in a restaurant in a cave and then proceeded to spend an hour on foot at the pyramids. We could have used about an hour more but we had to get back to the van.

GetYourGuide Monarch Butterfly Tour: The tour was originally priced at $234 for two people but we had the 40.5% cashback offer. We walked to the pickup spot and the van took about 4 hours to get there, including one rest halfway. The van was incredibly bumpy (I logged 10k steps each way just from the bumpiness of the ride). The El Rosario sanctuary was the highlight of the trip and we came at a good time to watch millions of monarch butterflies in the sanctuary.

Food and miscellanous: We ended up withdrawing 3500 pesos (About $180) and used all of it for food and miscellanous expenses. We used the Charles Schwab debit card which reimbursed our fees at the end of the month (about $6 reimbursement). Some highlights:

La Casa De Tono: Breakfast place close to our hotel. Really hit the spot when we first arrived. Only about $10 for two people. 9/10
Taqueria Los Coyos: A Bib Gourmand taco place. Really good tacos. Was only about $8 per person. 9/10
Terraza Los Pérez Carbón y Comal: Rooftop Restaurant with views across from cathedral. About $20/pp. 8/10
Taquería El Califa de León: Michelin star taco place. They really need better signage for the pickup vs order line. Worth a shot if you’re visiting but took us about an hour to order and wasn’t as good as the other taco place. About $15/pp. 8/10
Centurion Lounge Mexico City (terminal 1): Food is free for platinum card holders, plus tip. Pizza and tacos were great. 9/10
Centurion Lounge Mexico City (terminal 2): Only had the pizza here, and it seemed like it was microwaved. The lounge seemed fine otherwise. 7/10

Flight back Aeromexico via AA: We originally booked a 6AM AA flight award from MEX-PHX-LAX for 12k points per person. However, a day before, availability opened on AA for a 3PM direct flight for the same cost so we just cancelled the first one and rebooked for the later flight. It allowed us to wake up at a reasonable time and also enjoy a couple hours more in Mexico City. When we arrived at the airport, we spent an hour or so at the Centurion Lounge which offered a la carte meals that were quite good. We walked to the gate and they needed about 20 volunteers to change flight due to weight limitations. They offered $800 credit per person and offered to rebook us to the Aeromexico flight that was leaving just 3 hours later so we jumped on it. It took us about an hour to switch to the other terminal and get our new tickets from the Aeromexico counter. We were able to save about 30 minutes by using the skyteam priority line because of the Bilt status match to Air France/KLM. After clearing security, we went to the other Centurion lounge for awhile and then boarded the flight.

Totals: Our total cost for the trip was about $1800 for two people. Broken down it was flights: $774, Hotel: $184, Activities: $477, Food/Misc/Ubers: $371. They flights were pretty expensive because we had date/time restrictions. We also received $800 of AA vouchers per person for changing a flight by 3 hours. However, they were archaic paper vouchers that had some booking limitations and expire within a year.

Effect of Points: The points/miles hobby saved a couple hundred dollars for this trip and gave us lounge access. It allowed us to book refundable award flights, and change our flight to a better one at the last minute. We also received $280 cashback from the capital one shopping portal. There were points options for the hotel and flights, but they just did not make sense given the lower cash prices for acceptable alternatives.

Planning a Trip to Madison, WI with Points

We were planning to visit Madison, WI for about a week in November. We had fairly strict boundary conditions: We had to arrive on Monday, November 4th and leave on Saturday or Sunday.

Flight to MSN: The lowest priced option was to Uber to Ontario airport (about $60) and take a cheap Frontier flight to MSN. We looked at a variety of permutations (from all the Socal airports to Madison, Chicago, or Milwaukee) but it’s hard to beat $46 per person. I had diamond status on Frontier, which includes a carry-on, seating, and priority boarding. If we had no points we probably would have booked the same flight, but added the carry-on bundle for about $60.

Hotel in MSN: Our best option turned out to be booking direct with Choice Hotels at a Mainstay Suites for $516.38. There was also 10.5% cashback through a shopping portal. The points alternatives were Fairfield Inn and Suites (126k Marriott points), Hyatt Place (72k points), or Hilton Home2 Suites (180k points), none of which seem to be a wise use of points. There was also an interesting option with Marriott using 2 Amex offers for $140 off $350. The lowest rate would have been $590 after Amex Offers, but would have been a nonrefundable. In this case, points weren’t very useful.

Car Rental in MSN: We booked a refundable $30/day weekly rate. Presidential Circle status from Amex Platinum or the Venture X card may allow us to pick a larger car from the lot. I had about 800 Hertz points expiring this year, so this rental would earn enough points to get another free rental day. Without points, I would have booked the same rental, but wouldn’t have gained the free rental day.

Flight from MSN: We booked a Frontier flight back that would stop overnight in Las Vegas. We had to book each leg separately because Frontier doesn’t allow long layovers. Any alternatives would have been about $250 per person or 18.5k AA points.

Overnight in Vegas: This would allow us to do a mattress run at the Rio and use some of the dining credits from various offers (e.g. Fointainebeau status match). We had waived resort fees at the Rio and used some expiring Hertz points for a 1-day rental. With cash, we would have booked $40 Budget rental through Autoslash and stayed at the Excalibur or Luxor for roughly $58/night with resort fees.

Additional Flights: We had 2 people coming from PHX and their flights would have been $307 pp on American Airlines basic economy. We used Alaska points to book the exact same flights for 15k points + $36.20 per person. The points flight would be mostly refundable (minus the $25 partner booking fee) and include seat selection.

Totals: Our total expected cost for the 6 day trip for 4 people is: $1238 and 30000 Alaska Airlines points. Without points, it would have cost roughly $2000 for the entire trip. Although we used points for only 2 flights, we were able to use some elite status perks. The savings for this trip is mostly from the Alaska points on American flights, extra perks from Frontier Diamond, and Hyatt Globalist.

Future New York City Trip with Points

We were planning to visit NYC for about a week sometime later in the year. This is one of the instances where points didn’t really save much money, but did elevate the trip.

We wanted to leave at night from LAX and arrive in the morning in New York on specific days, which limited our flight and hotel options.

Flight to NYC: I had 4 Move to Mint certificates from the Jetblue/Delta Status match so Jetblue was really the only choice with points. There was also a 25% off promotion, which brought the flight down to $130.

If I didn’t have points, I would have booked Jetblue Basic, which would have cost $30 less per person.

Hotel in NYC: With points, the first option was the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, at 18000 points per night. I applied a suite upgrade to the Hudson River Suite. Another option was to get a suite at Hyatt House Jersey City for $131 + 6k points per night. There was also a double point promotion at Hyatt Houses at the time. Either choice would include breakfast and would have early check-in (if available) and late-checkout. The Regency room and breakfast should be nicer, so we opted for the HR option.

Without points, we would have booked the Doubletree at Fort Lee, which was $689 through id90travel. It wouldn’t have a view of NYC, wouldn’t have breakfast, would be a less nice room, and would be less convenient to public transportation.

GoCity Explorer Pass: The explorer pass includes touristy options like the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty. It’s available as a Hyatt Find Experience so we opted for the $150 and $300 find credit as a 50 and 70 night milestones on Hyatt. I would value them at roughly 50% of face value, so $350 find credit cost me roughly $175.

Without points, I would have purchased the passes from Groupon with a gift card and cashback portal for roughly $147 per person.

Flight from NYC: We booked a Jetblue Blue fare for $168 per person and used move to mint certificates. It was originally $204 but the price dropped.

Without points, we would have just booked the blue basic option for $153 per person.

Other expenses: We would have paid less for food since breakfast is provided at the Hyatt hotels. Other than that, the other expenses should be the same with or without points.

Totals: Our total expected cost for the trip for two people is: 90000 Hyatt Points, $1304, and 4x Move to Mint Certificates that was free from the Delta status match last year.

Without points, we would have paid about $2117. In this case, points didn’t really save us much money at all, but gave us a more luxurious experience. We would have lie-flat seats both ways and better accommodations that were closer to public transportation.

The sticker price for all the options would be some nonsensical number that has no bearing on reality since we would never pay that amount. The personal value of the trip (the amount I would have paid out of pocket) was around $2700. We would have paid $100 more for mint each way and about $300 more for the better hotel with breakfast. So we got a trip that we value at $2700 for $1304 and 90000 Hyatt Points.